• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Skeptic book for kids

rob_hebert

New Blood
R
Joined
Nov 21, 2007
Messages
16
Hi all. I've been a long-time reader of the Swift, as well as a big fan of Randi, but this is my first post here at the JREF forums.
Anyway,I'm currently writing a book on skepticism for 10-15-year-olds. It would be similar to those "50 Unsolved Mysteries" books that I used to read as a kid, except my book shows why these mysteries aren't so mysterious after all. It also acts as a palatable vehicle for kids to learn about some of the reasons why the mysteries are invented, why they persist, and why people believe them, as well as some of the more prevalent logical fallacies that lead people into superstition.
I was wondering what "mysteries" everyone here would like to see debunked in such a format. Imagine you were back in grade school, or that you have a kid in grade school (I know many of you do). What would you want in the book?
Remember that as a kid, you were much more interested in UFO's and Bigfoot than in religious matters or conspiracy theories, and that things we take for granted as being busted are still very real to 5th graders. Also, some schools are already wary of books like mine talking about creationism, blblical literalism, etc., so I won't be doing much on that (I will be doing faces in food, though).
A few of the things I'm already doing: Stonehenge, crop circles, alien abduction, astrology, Loch Ness monster, as well as about 60 more.
 
Big Foot/Yeti
Loch Ness Monster
ESP
reincarnation of Emily Rose (?)
Devil's triangle
Looking in the mirror at midnight and saying some ladies name 3 times in the dark and she'll appear ("mary worth"? Medusa?)
Alien visitation
crop circles
teen hitchhiker saves motorist... motorist later learns it was the ghost of someone who had died as a teen
chupacabra
mood rings :)
lifting people up with your pinkies after doing assorted incantations of how they died... or saying "light as a feather" over and over...
hypnosis...

I think that covers most of my teen things...
 
Hi Rob, best of luck with your book, I think it's a great idea.

I remember when I was that age my big interests were cryptozoology - probably stemming from what's probably every kid's hope to see a real-life dinosaur. What broke the spell for me was reading how the ecosystem of these "cryptids" could never support them (ex., not enough fish in Loch Ness for a breeding population of even the smallest plesiosaurs) so make sure to include that.

I would also advise you to read plenty of woo books on these subjects to see the language they use to dismiss and pervert the skeptical arguments. Make sure to pro actively neutralize the typical counter-argument.

A word on format. The best skeptical book I read about cryptozoology at that age had what I thought was a very effective structure. The first part was simply the usual recounting of "eyewitness" accounts, native legends quoted as proof, and the associated fantastical interpretations. It then started to pick away at the various logical chinks in the armor, slowly picking up steam, until by the end of the book the whole concept came crashing down. This was a much better approach than an all out barrage of logic starting in chapter one.
 
Oh-- "spells"-- I think a lot of kids are into "spells" from Harry Potter... and the like... plus kids have always liked the idea of casting spells...

spontaneous combustion
levitation
healing touch
 
Last edited:
The light as a feather one was great, good suggestion. Ditto on the mood rings and spontaneous combustion. I really wanted to do a lot more "ghost stories" like the hitchhiker one, but those urban legends are hard to debunk since they just involve weird stuff supposedly happening to someone at some time in an ambiguous way. It's hard to tell exactly what I'm supposed to prove or disprove. Maybe for a later book... Either way, I do have entries for EVP, ghost photographs, ghost hunting,

GeorgeP- Cryptozoology was definitely what I was into as a teen. The ecosystem argument was what convinced me those types of creatures weren't real (there just wouldn't be enough food for Nessie to eat, the poor thing). As regards the style of the debunking, each "mystery" takes up about a page, which is divided into 5 sections:
1. The phenomenon (strange photo of black silhouette taken at Loch Ness)
2. The woo-woo reasoning for it (it's a dinosaur!)
3. The "smell test," or, "does this make any sense in the first place?" (why would there be one dinosaur who survived, and why would it be in Scotland, and how come no one can get a clear picture?)
4. The real evidence (the guy admitted the picture was a hoax, the ecosystem could not support a plesiosaur--much less a breeding population, etc.)
5. Sources for more info (mini bibliography)

That's the general structure. The beginning chapter also has a general overview of the unreliability of anecdote and eyewitness accounts, the ways people can exploit superstition for financial gain, etc. As for research, it's quite daunting to wade through so many poorly written, poorly rationalized arguments for bunk theories, yet I soldier on.
 
Another big negative for dino-Nessie is that recent research shows that plesiosaur necks were quite stiff and unable to adopt the classic swan-like pose Nessie is famous for.

As articulett says, SHC is a good one. Bermuda Triangle is worth a look as well - simply describing Larry Kusche's book should do the trick.

Sadly, I was also into the Daniken ancient astronaut nonsense. So much to debunk there.

If you can, have a chapter on the Ri. A relatively unknown cryptid, it was thoroughly debunked and identified as a dugong. It's worth a mention because it had all the classic trappings of cryptozoology - convinced scientists, natives pointing to pictures of dinosaurs and claiming to have known it for centuries, etc. Jerome Clark's book Unexplained has a good summary.
 
rob_hebert said:
Hi all. I've been a long-time reader of the Swift, as well as a big fan of Randi, but this is my first post here at the JREF forums.
Anyway,I'm currently writing a book on skepticism for 10-15-year-olds. It would be similar to those "50 Unsolved Mysteries" books that I used to read as a kid, except my book shows why these mysteries aren't so mysterious after all. It also acts as a palatable vehicle for kids to learn about some of the reasons why the mysteries are invented, why they persist, and why people believe them, as well as some of the more prevalent logical fallacies that lead people into superstition.
I was wondering what "mysteries" everyone here would like to see debunked in such a format. Imagine you were back in grade school, or that you have a kid in grade school (I know many of you do). What would you want in the book?
Remember that as a kid, you were much more interested in UFO's and Bigfoot than in religious matters or conspiracy theories, and that things we take for granted as being busted are still very real to 5th graders. Also, some schools are already wary of books like mine talking about creationism, blblical literalism, etc., so I won't be doing much on that (I will be doing faces in food, though).
A few of the things I'm already doing: Stonehenge, crop circles, alien abduction, astrology, Loch Ness monster, as well as about 60 more.
Click to expand...




How about the classic unexpected noises in the middle of the night?
 
I think I'm going to be talking about the rational explanations for "unexplained" or "unexpected" noises in a section about hauntings and poltergeists (the entries are all one page each, but they're grouped into themed chapters, i.e., "ghosts," "places," "aliens"). There's a section in the intro about how human brains attribute form to random shapes (shadows look like people, faces can be found in clouds, etc.). All the "ghost" entries are going to be in one section, since that way I can start with the easier ones and build upon the concepts covered in order to explain the more complex ones. For instance, once I explain that people see faces in toast, clouds, and water stains, it's easier to explain how people hear voices in static-filled audio.

Also, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has suggested stuff already.
 
The skepticism for kids stuff in the back of Skeptic magazines is pretty decent.
 
1) Psychics

2) Astrology


I'd also be interested in finding out when your book comes available. Is there a mailing list, or will you be kind enough to announce it here?
 
Hi Rob, sounds like a great idea. Why don't you post all 60 of your ideas so they won't be duplicated in the responses here?

To demonstrate audio pareidolia to my classes (7th grade), I use something called 'talking ribbons' which can be found on the internet. They are plastic strips with ridges cut into them. When you pull your thumbnail down one, it seems to talk! I make mine 'speak' and then ask what they heard. The answers are wildly different with no one coming close to the answer. Then I tell them what it is really supposed to say, "Science is Fun!", and do it again. This time there is a unanimous response and they are somewhat awestruck at how good it sounds. They all agree that it indeed says "Science is fun!" and they yell out things like; "Dude! That is cool!!", "I want one!!!" "Let me try!" It's a good quick lesson and a lot of fun.

I'll send one to you if you like.

Larry
 
Last edited:
To start, read James Randi's "Flim-Flam!". I think the Cottingley faries story is a good way to establish a boilerplate for all of these woo-topics. You might want to mention Carlos and Project Alpha, to show how easily people are fooled, and how they continue to believe even after the truth is revealed. The Fox sisters (spiritualism) also fall into this category.

I think similar skeptical books do exist. I remember reading a book about ghosts when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I checked it out from the school library because it had all sorts of cool pictures of real ghosts! It turned out that when I read the book, the author showed how the ghost pictures had all been faked, and how the ghost stories turned out to be bogus. The book burst my bubble and I wasn't so quick to believe in ghosts after that.
 
first book I bought for myself ( I was a late starter) when I was about 14 was called the Human Difference, still have it around somewhere. I liked biology and anything within that field of reference and it was illustrated to boot :)
This book was so completely different in that it opened up more questions than it answered and left me pondering the big why question.

My daughter is reaching the same age and uncannily, she's into human sciences too so I've I've a neat microscope and telescope package hidden away for Christmas. (along with the many video games that will be stuffed in the stockings)

Kids love science I swear.

edit:I just realised you were asking for ideas to bunk for a kids book, which personally I wouldn't touch off with a barge pole. Kids have an amazing ability to figure stuff out for themselves and as much as I wouldnt force a religion onto a child I wouldn't force them to buy into an uneducated reasoning of some egomaniacs trivial pursuits.
 
Last edited:
Psychics / Clairaudience - An essential inclusion, I'd say. This particular field is becoming disturbingly popular and is potentially the most damaging.

Dowsing - As a child, I sometimes saw dowsers perform on daytime talk shows, where they would explain their powers as though they were common and natural, and the presenters accepting it mindlessly.

Tarot Cards - 'Factual' books on this are quite easy to find, even in school libraries. I was a believer at one time, and never once came across any book that refuted it.
 
1. saquatch/bigfoot/yeti
2. chupacabra
3. loch ness monster
4. atlantis
5. lemuria
6. el dorado
7. fountain of youth
8. astrology
9. homeopathy
10. telekinesis
11. remote viewing
12. mind reading
13. talking to the dead
14. curse of the pharaoh
15. moon landing conspiracy
16. Area 51
17. alien abduction
18. UFO's
19. Bermuda triangle
20. Nostradamus
21. tarot
22. electronic voice phenomenon
23. ghosts on film
24. exorcism
25. supernatural visions
26. egyptian pyramids (that they couldn’t have been made by man)
27. stonehenge
28. crop circles
29. easter island
30. auras
31. teleportation
32. levitation
33. dowsing
34. crystals
35. spontaneous combustion

Here's a shorter list of topics I'm going to write actual entries on. Once I finish that, about 25 will be assembled into categories.
 
This may have been mentioned already, but I remember when I was in 5th, 6th and 7th grade most of my friends were really into occult type stuff, like ouija boards (someone already mentioned the "light as a feather..." one), and for a short period of time I managed to convince a few of my friends that I was psychic by using what I knew of them (admittedly alot, girls tend to share, especially about each other). When I tried to tell them after that I was just kidding, they were convinced I was lying so I didn't have to tell them their love horoscopes. So, occult related stuff might be good.
 
Good-luck Charms.

Also, any of the myriad superstitions often displayed by popular professional athletes.

And when I was a teen I was really into martial arts woo, like the so-called "death touch".
 
Last edited:
I remember reading some books printed in the 1960s (I think - they were my grandfather's) by Frank Edwards - "Strange World" was one of them. They were similar to what you're writing, but presenting everything very seriously and credulously. I loved 'em.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom